Attention all Velominati. The Tour VSP is going on line and it should be a good one. Sure, between Froomy and Bertie a person could hedge their bets but Moviestar is all in for Valverde, BMC for TeeJay, Astana for the Shark and Garmin is finally committing to a team leader in Talansky. Some other teams (ahem…Trek Factory Racing for one) have resigned themselves to hunting stage wins. The Tour swings through the Yorkshire Dales, everyone but the riders can enjoy some excellent ales. As the Tour continues to Lille, Norther France and Belgium, the quality pints continue. Yes, it’s hot and the VSP generator has beer on its mind.
The route, the sprints, the climbing and even the final time trial should make this a decent Tour. Here is a start list. Everyone will have a vial in their jersey pocket, but don’t worry, it’s legal.
It is still not too late to win the overall 2014 VSP and we have made it worth your while.
Refer to the VSP page for details concerning scoring and rest day swaps. If you want to call yourself Pedro Delgado, you will only have yourself to blame. The VSP banner on the homepage has the countdown clock, refresh your browser and don’t be late. Good luck and good picking.
[vsp_results id=”30275″/]
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View Comments
@ChrisO
Isn't Porte the SKY 'Plan B'. Wasn't he supposed to be the GC rider for SKY at the Giro ? I mean really, Porte is probably as good as most any teams GC guy on the road today.
@Teocalli Very good point.
Although to be fair they couldn't have know at the time of selection that it would rain, whereas Froome was always considered suspect on the cobbles.
@Minnesota Expat
Not really. At the time of the selection kerfuffle when people were saying Brailsford should take Wiggins as a backup plan, he responded by saying it was very rare that you could go into these things with a Plan B and find that you still won. Effectively there was no such thing.
I see his point, but on the other hand it was more than a Plan B, as the cobbles were always going to be Froome's weakness.
As for Porte, he has had a poor season and there were big question marks over whether he could even be a super-domestique let alone a genuine contender. He showed some fight today so let's see. Maybe he will find the field-marshall's baton in his musette.
@Buck Rogers
I think it was perfectly predictable, Nibali has great bike handling skills (rides like Sagan), he's aggressive and attacks (ref this year's San Remo), can ride in the cold, rain and on wet pavement (again, ref his descent on the Cipressa at the end of San Remo and 2013 Giro). This guy is really growing on me.
Nibali just flew up the respect charts for me! What a ride! Have seen plenty of messages, including some from friends, who say that cobbles don't belong in the Tour. The cobbles weren't the problem, the rain was! Froome crashed twice on pavement and never even got to the cobbles. And he was the only one to abandon. Dude got hurt yesterday, on a sunny, flat stage due to a guy in front clipping his wheel. He probably couldn't hold the bars today. That's bad news if you race in the rain. VSP picks shot to hell...for now.
Twitter quote from Froome just now: "Devastated to have to withdraw from this years TDF. Injured wrist and tough conditions made controlling my bike near to impossible."
Memorable stage indeed. As Cancellara said, "Chapeau to Astana". I have not been a big fan, but that was a solid display to honor the yellow jersey.
@ChrisO
True all that. But, great interview (long one) with Brailsford on the Telegraph Tour podcast yesterday. He places a higher value on a cohesive team (Froome-Porte) that can get along for four weeks, rather than Froome-Wiggins and team friction as a Plan B. Besides, poor season aside, we know that Porte has the tools in the toolbox.
Personally, I would've picked Wiggins for the team. Although he probably wouldn've had trouble in the rain too (I still can't shake the images of him descending in the rain at the 2013 Giro. It was sad).
Epic stage, chapeau to Boom and especially Nibbles.
Sorry to see Froome go out, but now (as I suggested in the main VSP thread) Sky's team selection looks a bit daft, as Brailsford once again has a failed plan A and no realistic plan B. Is Porte really going to pull back 2mins on Nibbles AND hold a 40s lead over Contador, with all the mountains and a 54k ITT to come?
Yes, Wiggo might have crashed too - but he'd still have given Sky a bit more resilience. Faboo, Chava, Kittel, Fuglsang, Haussler, Van den Broeck (I think) all hit the deck, and there were plenty of others.
Anyway, main point is the race is already epic after only V stages, should be a fascinating fortnight ahead.
Was it a 2.30min gap Nibbles put in to Clenbutador today? Nibbles can time trial too so I think I may just hit the penalty for dropping Froome on the rest day reselection... Either way, the Lantern Rouge is safe.